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`plate of stereotype cast, is made up of four WM. BLANCHARD, OF VASI-IINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

CASTING STEREOTYPE-PLATES.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 23,009, dated February 22, 1859.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, IVILLIAM BLANCHARD, of the city of Washington, in the District of` Columbia, have invented a new and Improved Mode of Casting Stereotype-Plates for Printing; and I do hereby declare thati the following is a full and exact description thereof.

The nature of my invention consists in casting, in metal, by immersion or pouring stereotype plates for printing, in molds-or matrices formed by pressure upon, and adhering to, metallic plates.

To enable others skilled in the art to make use of my invention, I will proceed to describe the method of using it.

In the accompanying drawings, which make a part of this specification, Figure I- shows a part of the casting pan, with the mold plates, and the mold therein, screwed in position, and ready for casting. Fig. II shows a series of curved plates, as they will stand in the casting pan. Fig. III shows one of the plane mold plates, a composition mold, or matrix, in yellow formed upon, and adhering to it, with bevel bearers in place, and with holes in the margin to admit the buttonbearers. Fig. IV shows a plane mold plate, with a casting frame resting directly upon it, and flush with its outer edges. Fig. V shows the button bearer, by itself ready t-o be inserted.

Similar letters and `figures referto similar parts in the drawings.

Fig. I, besides showing a series of moldplates, button bearers, bevel bearers, and castingframe, in the casting pan, shows, in yellow, the matrix or mold, ZJ', o2, &c., with its back adhering firmly to the moldplate a, a2, &c.; o', o2, &c., the button bearers sustaining the mold-plate above them; d, CZ, the bevel bearers, resting on the bed e, e, now used in connection with the frame f, f, the position of the casting-frame with the end offto let the bevel bearers be seen) also sustaining the plate above it, but in all cases the button bearers or frames govern the thickness of the plates cast, which plates are represented by the blank spaces g', g2, &c.

A full series of surfaces, involved in each parts. If we count from the bottom, a is the true mold plate, resting on the bottom of the casting pan; b', the mold, or matrix, in yellow, the back adhering to the true, upper surface of the metallic mold-plate (fa), while its face or matrix is to form the lower or printing surface of g (the stereotype cast, when immersed). The upper surface of g rests against the lower surface of the true mold-plate (a2) above it., and makes a matrix` to cast the true back of g and forms the upper boundary of the complete lower or first series. The first series includes the upper surface of on, all of o', all of g and the lower surface of a2. Then a2 becomes a partition Vplate-one of its true sides being a matrix for the true back of g', in one compartment, and being its upper boundary, while the other, or reverse side, holds a matrix (o2) to cast the printing surface of g2, in the next compartment, and being its lower boundary. The others of the series are counted in the same way. The nature of the invention therefore, when fully stated, is, casting any number of stereotype plates, by immersion, or by pouring, each stereotype plate, so cast, having its back rest on a true metal mold-plate and its face against that of a mold or matrix, while the back of the mold adheres to the true metal plate it is formed upon. In my description the plates are supposed to be laid horizontally, and face up, but they may be cast vertically as well. The order may also be reversed, and the molds or matrices turned face down- They may, also, be placed face to face, thereby casting two faces on one stereotype plate, making two printing surfaces.

I `procure a number of metallic moldplates, planed with accuracy, so as to have parallel faces or sides, and somewhat larger than the form to be cast, and about threeeighths of an inch in thickness. Thinner plates will do better, if they can be kept straight. These plates may have holes in their margin, (Fig. III, o, 0,) to admit bearers, and are such as I use in casting plane stereotype plates. I also procure a number of metallic button bearers, (Fig. V, 0,) turned ground to an eXact and uniform thickness, with a shank to lill the holes in the plates, as seen in Fig. III, o, o, o. I sometimes use metallic bevel bearers, (CZ, d, Fig. III.) )Vhcn these are used alone, or in connection with frames, the mold plates will require no holes, as the bevel bearers can rest upon the mold material, in beds formed for them, (e, e, Fig. I.)

As my manner of casting may be performed in any of the casting pans now m common use, a description of them is deemed unnecessary here.

The molds and matrices I have used and which I recommend are composed of pipe clay, seven parts; chalk, twelve parts. These ingredients are made into a paste with water (working in a little calcined plaster just before using) and formed into molds or matrices, upon the mold-plate, to which they adhere, b, Fig. III. To do this I lock up around and near the form to be molded bearers, type height, or nearly so. Then I cover the form and bearers with a line piece of woolen or cotton cloth, and, upon the cloth, place a sheet of common printing paper. I then spread a thin coating of the mold material upon one of the metallic moldplates, turn it down upon the paper, cloth, and form, and take an impression of the whole on an electrotyping or other suitable press. This first impression will distribute the mold material into the blanks in the type, and thus shape the mold in the rough. If the mold be not properly formed, spread on the defective parts more of the material, and then repeat the impression, using another sheet of paper and the cloth, as before. Then brush over the type and bearers, with oil,-or a mixture of oil and spirits of turpentine, is better,-and take another impression, making the type come into direct contact with and sinking a uniform and known depth in the mold material, thus forming the matrix and completing the mold, leaving a true bed around the molded page or form for the bevel bearers to rest upon, The thickness of the mold material under the face of this known and last impression, deducted from the height of the button-bearers or the frames, will give the thickness of the stereotype plate, but not so if the bevelbearers are depended on for the thickness of the plate. It must be ascertained from the bed formed for them, in the mold material, by the bearers locked up in the form from which the mold is taken. Molds for curved plates are formed in the same manner, upon thin elastic material, such as saw blade, so that they can be bent to the curved mold plates. I next take a mold plate (a, Fig. I) having a mold or matrix upon it, and lay it in the bottom of the casting pan, face up, ((7,) inserting a button bea-rer in each of its marginal holes, (0, c.) I then lay on these bearers another mold plate, (a2) with a mold or matrix adhering to it, face up, (b2) and insert more button bearers, (c2, 02,) and so continue to lay on plates with molds or matrices adhering to them upon the bearers till the pan is full or the molds and plates are exhausted.

I sometimes use bevel bearers (cl, (Z, Fig.

' l) in connect-ion with or instead of the button bearers and frames. When bevel bearers are used, they rest upon the bed (e, e)

formed for them in the mold material by the bearers locked up around the page or form. The bevel bearers help the delivery of the cast from the surrounding surplus metal, and also form the bevel upon the plate when cast, but are unnecessary for these purposes when the bevel is made in the molded material, which can be done in form` ing the mold. IVhen used alone they serve the purpose of keeping the mold plates parallel.

Instead of the button bearers, :trames of metal (Figs. I and IV) or narrow ledges planed upon the mold-plates, Hush with their outer edges, may be substituted. In using the frames or ledges, a number of openings, called gatesor jets (It, L, Figs. III and IV) are to be left to allow a flow of metal in, while cooling, to prevent defects from shrinkage.

Curved mold plates diili'er Jfrom the plane ones, as shown in the drawings, (Fig. II) in having the projecting ledges (2', e', &c.) as seen along their concave sides, formed on vthem while planing them to the desired curve, and may be so placed as to admitthe iexiblemo-ld plate between them, and also to serve several other purposes. They may serve as a matrix for the sides of the plate to be cast, and so shape them that it can be fastened by its sides to the printing cylinder or on blocks. They may also be a matrix to make a place on the side of the plate to be cast, to guide the side tool, shaped to put on such fastenings as may be desired. They also serve to separate the cast from the surrounding metal. These projections for all the purposes except the first named will do as well, if placed on the convex side oi the mold-plate, leaving only enough of the ledges (i, z',) on the concave sides to admit the flexible plate. The mold or matrix for the curved plates, made on the flexible inaterial, as before stated, I bend and slide into the space between these small projections (i, z',) with its back against the concave side of the mold-plate, where it remains in position by its own elastic power and the pressure of the metal upon it. They differ also from the other mold plates in having anges (lc, 16,) on which the bearers or 'frames rest to keep them apart and parallel. To guard against the slipping sidewise of the curved plates, after being fixed in position, steady point bearers (m, mv, &c.) may be placed, angular or otherwise, upon them, or on the button bearers or frames, so as to enter a corresponding groove (n, 72,) in the next plate, as shown in Fig. II of the drawsure each and all of them in their true and parallel positions, while the casting is being made. The whole is now immersed in the metal, transferred to the coo-ling trough, cooled off, and knocked out in the usual way. IVhen sufficiently cooled to be handled the superfluous metal is broken 0E, the composition washed from the face of the casts, and the new stereotype plates, having their edges planed, may be fastened to the press or on blocks and are ready to be printed from.

vIt is clear that by my arrangement any number of plates may be made in one cast, one above the other, limited only by the depth of the casting pan.

It will be seen that, by ,using molds or matrices adhering to metallic plates the face of the said mold or matrix must be kept true, because it adheres to a plate made true. The adherence, also, prevents the cracking of the molds .while casting. Having the face of the molds or matrix kept t-rue by its own adhesion, it must follow that the back of the next true plate being kept parallel with the true face of the mold or matrix, by uniform and true bearers between them, my plates will be true, and will require neither turning nor planing to make them so. Neither do they require chiseling, as the molds may be so formed, by the manner I have described, as to render that process unnecessary, and casts from molds formed by pressure are so perfect as to be free from picks.

Now I am aware that a patent was granted to R. D. Mott for casting two stereotype plates at once, one above the other, by attaching two plaster molds to one iron plate one above and the other below, (face to face). I-Iis mode limits him to two casts,

the bottom one a failure, as workmen inform me, in consequence of the pressure of the metal against the unprotected back of the mold, while by my process, owing to the adhering mold or matrix, twenty or more may be cast, one above the other, at the same time, all equally good. I have cast as many require neither shaving, chiseling, nor picking. I have, therefore, abolished these important drawbacks in the manufacture of stereotype plates, saving from seventy to seventy-five per cent. of the labor.

Both the mold material and the manner of forming them upon the plates are substantially the same as that patented by Brunell, in England, in 1820, no part of which is claimed by me.

I do not claim anything new in the method herein described, of fastening the flexible mold plates. I do not claim the casting of stereotype plates for printing, by immersion, as a novelty, but

That I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is,

l. Casting stereotype plates for printing by immersing a metallic mold-plate, with a mold or matrix formed upon and adhering to it, substantially as herein described.

2. I claim the manner of casting any number of stereotype plates, by immersion, or otherwise, in which each mold plate, holds, on one of its sides, a matrix, whereon the face of the stereotype plate is east, in one compartment, while its reverse side, in another compartment is used as. a matrix, whereon to cast the back of another stereotype plate, substantially as herein described.

IVM. BLANCHARD.

vWitnesses I. BIGELow, AMoN DUvALL. 

